


Broken Ornaments

by Kimagi



Category: EXO (Band), K-pop
Genre: Alternate Universe - Elf, Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Christmas, Christmas Decorations, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Tree, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Kim Jongdae | Chen-centric, Romance, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:54:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21977674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kimagi/pseuds/Kimagi
Summary: Christmas is around the corner and your boyfriend gets into a full holiday mood. However, you start to wonder who he really is; your wildest guess is that he might be one of Santa’s elves.
Relationships: Kim Jongdae | Chen/Original Character(s), Kim Jongdae | Chen/Original Female Character(s), Kim Jongdae | Chen/Reader, Kim Jongdae | Chen/You
Kudos: 2





	Broken Ornaments

Your feet hurt.

With every step, you could feel the blisters coming out painfully as well as the churn in the pit of your stomach, urging you to get something to eat. You weren’t just exhausted, you were sweating even if you weren’t carrying a single bag.

There was someone to blame for it. You could easily say that your boyfriend was at fault of all of your discomfort because he had a knack for the dramatics when it comes to Christmas but couldn’t really blame him. It was an ingrained part of his very essence.

Kim Jongdae was a holidays enthusiast. That much you knew right after Halloween was over and you found yourself caught up in the first Christmas shopping spree of your life. After that, you had a feeling the preparations for the following years would be just as crazy and maybe, a lot bigger.

How did you know that? By the excitement in his eyes as you walked around any store decorated accordingly to the season or his adorable pout and childish whining whenever you refused to get some ridiculous dancing Santa. Let’s not forget the naughty smirk on his face when he got a Mrs. Claus piece of lingerie for you to use on Christmas Eve.

It was nearly impossible to hate him though. His enthusiasm was quite adorable and even contagious and you couldn’t help yourself but smile as you watched him happily carrying all the bags as if they weighed nothing. You started to wonder how was it possible for him to always have his way on making you buy more Christmasy stuff.

However, despite all the green and red and gold that covered everything around you, something managed to catch your attention and you stopped dead in your tracks. Going back on your steps, you reached the window apparel of an imported goods store and practically squealed in awe. Somewhere far in the back of your head, you heard your boyfriend calling your name but you were already going into the store.

It was like being transported into another world filled with tiny, twinkling lights, warmth and color. You were surrounded by lushly Christmas trees, adorned from the tip to the toe with different styles that covered every single tweak and branch.

You saw with amazement, ornaments from every culture in the world from the elegant and intricate Russian glass balls to the bright and colorful corn leaves dolls from Mexico, or the beautiful wooden carved bears and moose from Canada and even red good luck charms from China.

The ornaments were fancy and looked beyond expensive that you didn’t dare to actually take one in your hands, afraid that you might break them. They were nothing like the cheap and cutesy stuff your boyfriend always wanted to get and that you had a suspicion, were handmade by someone not that proficient in any kind of crafts and art.

You stood there, in the middle of the store for a while, unable to look at something in specific but at the same time, not wanting to leave the place. You liked everything and it didn’t matter the cost, you needed to get at least one single ornament, even if it was the cheapest one and soon enough, you found them.

Scarlet red crystal orbs.

Fancy and elegant red, crystal ornaments that would elevate the cheap plastic Christmas tree you managed to buy a few years back and that sat sadly in the middle of the small living room in your apartment.

“Aren’t these the most beautiful ornaments you’ve ever seen?” You asked more to yourself than to him.

Getting closer to the tree that had dozens of those gorgeous orbs, you admired them. Your fingers barely touching the delicate surface when his voice, in a lower tone that you’d expect from him, broke the illusion.

“I’ve seen better,” Jongdae said.

That was odd.

It was weird enough to tear your attention off the beautiful ornaments and look at him over your shoulder in utter bewilderment. Considering how excited your boyfriend was about everything winter and holidays, seeing him so uninterested and even slightly bored inside a store that was a depiction of wonderland, was almost alarming.

“Really?”

“The moving ones.” He said almost absently and you stared at him.

“Moving ones?”

“Yeah, you know,” Jongdae muttered. “the ones that move.”

The slight pout showing in his face was too odd to ignore and you tried to get him to elaborate but he just blinked at you, uninterested. There was something very off going on with him but you weren’t entirely surprised at his lack of explanations.

“Right, moving ornaments.” You whispered.

When Jongdae was in a mood or throwing a fit, no force on earth could make him talk so you just watched him shrug and walk out of the store, leaving you behind with the expensive ornaments all around you.

*** * ***

Were you surprised that your boyfriend spent the rest of the shopping outing sulking? Not really. Jongdae barely even looked at your general direction and as much as his attitude could bother you, the impatience of getting home was bigger. You could barely hold the excitement of opening the box of brand new and expensive Christmas ornaments that were quite a bit more expensive than you would usually spend on holiday decorations but you were happy with the purchase.

Not wasting even a second on anything else, you set yourself on spending the rest of your day decorating your small Christmas tree and not even your pouting boyfriend could stop you from making the most out of it.

That’s how you end up spending several hours dusting off boxes and bringing out all the seasonal ornaments you’ve collected over time, placing some around your living room, some others on the tree and overall, enjoy yourself or at least trying to do it whenever Jongdae showed up.

If he really wanted to get under someone’s nerves, he always managed to find a way to do it. You were his current target and for someone so enthusiastic for the holidays, he was exceeding himself to be beyond annoying. You almost cursed at him for pushing the box you safely kept all the golden garlands away from your reach or simply criticizing every ornament you had and that he didn’t pick himself. He could be that petty.

“Are you a newbie?” He asked, standing close to you, with his arms crossed and raising a judgmental brow, “everyone knows the lights go first and then you hang up the ornaments.”

His tone was patronizing and you suddenly felt the need to smack him. There was even a bit of mockery in the slight twist of his lips as he watched you struggle with the string but with no intention whatsoever of helping you out. Ignoring him, you just kept setting the lights over and around the wired twigs with the utmost care.

Chuckling to himself at your expense, he was about to leave when you saw it happen before it actually happened. As if in slow motion, his feet tangled in the string of lights you were setting in the tree. You couldn’t even manage to say his name, even less to stop him because the moment he gave the next step, the string tensed, pulling the tree.

Letting out a gasp, the weightless, plastic tree tilted to one side and the sound you made, caught your boyfriend’s attention and that was the beginning of the disaster. Jongdae turned around, pulling the string more and finally knocking down your sad, little and yet, harmless Christmas tree.

Instinctively jumping away, you witnessed the fall with horror, and a small squeak left your lips when the glass broke and the next thing you saw was the floor getting covered with tiny pieces of your brand new Christmas ornaments. What came after was absolute silence.

Jongdae remained still, looking down at the wrecked tree while you tried to find something within you to move. A part of you couldn’t even believe it and the more you stared at the mess lying at your feet, the harder it was for you to wrap your head around what really happened. It couldn’t be true that the ornaments you just got a few hours before were broken and you needed to see it with your eyes to believe it.

“Don’t move.” He ordered you as soon as you moved but despite you hearing what he said, you didn’t listen. You needed to make sure you weren’t dreaming. “You’ll cut yourself if you keep moving.”

With nothing else in your mind but a wave of desolation taking over you, you leaned over to pick the tree up and it made everything worse. Every single ornament, either new or old, were all shattered and broken and you couldn’t hold it anymore. Choking with the knot stuck in the middle of your throat, your eyes blurred and with a sob, you started to cry, much to your boyfriend’s own despair.

“No, baby, don’t cry.” He said, suddenly by your side. “I’ll fix it. Don’t cry.”

Too worked up to answer or to even argue with him, you just found yourself seated in the nearest couch, crying silently as Jongdae struggled to put the Christmas tree back up straight again and with every little movement he made, pieces of ornaments kept falling to the floor, making you cry harder.

Very deep inside you, you knew it was ridiculous to cry for something as small a Christmas ornaments but the moment you felt him grabbing your hands within his, you couldn’t stop even if you wanted. Jongdae looked just as upset as you felt. He was looking at you with the most worried expression you’ve seen so far that his brows were furrowed and his lips pursed in a sad pout.

“I remember there were some old ornaments on the wardrobe.” He said. “Wanna come?”

That caught your interest as his thumb delicately wiped off a tear from your face. You didn’t have a wardrobe and you weren’t nearly in the best mood to find out what he was talking about so you just shook your head as you kept sulking over your broken new ornaments.

“Come on, baby.” Jongdae insisted. “It will be fun.”

In other circumstances, you wouldn’t even bother to listen to him, especially if he was in his prankster mode but the certainty glimmering in his eyes was something you couldn’t ignore. If Jongdae said it was going to be fun, you believed him so you nodded. The next thing you knew, was that you were back in your room and that Jongdae was steadily holding your hand as he opened your closet.

Against all the odds, there was an actual wardrobe inside your closet and you had no chance to say anything about it when your boyfriend opened the carved door and stepped inside, pulling you after him.

Your hold on Jongdae’s hand tightened after feeling the soft folds of coats around you and the only sound you caught, was your boyfriend’s chuckle. He was the one that dragged you inside a wardrobe you didn’t own and that was inside your closet and he had the audacity of laughing at you. Before you could retort at him about it, something crumbled under your feet and something else pricked your skin, making you instantly halt.

It wasn’t exactly pitch black inside the wardrobe but you had to move around a little to see where were you standing and you couldn’t believe it.

Pine needles.

You were standing on pine needles inside the wardrobe.

A wardrobe that wasn’t yours.

“You’ve got to be kidding me?” You mumbled.

“I haven’t said a thing.” He replied, still holding your hand.

“The pine needles, Jongdae.” You retorted, rolling your eyes in the dark. “I’m talking about the pine needles.”

“What about them?” He asked, looking down at his feet with that adorable pout that urged you to kiss him every time.

Not giving you any chance to explain the rarity of walking on a seemingly dry forest path or anything at all about the wardrobe, Jongdae shrugged and resumed walking between the hanging coats.

“Are you serious?” You argued out loud but your boyfriend’s steady pace didn’t falter. “Don’t you see what’s going on?”

“We’re looking for the old ornaments because you were crying over the fancy-ass ones.” He retorted, facing you out of the blue.

“Yeah, we’re looking for ornaments in a big ass wardrobe that was inside my closet and has pine needles inside it!” You replied, more startled than anything else.

Jongdae simply blinked at you as if he couldn’t understand what you just said and as it had happened before, you wondered if he was just messing with you or sometimes he was genuinely that naive and innocent.

“Narnia!” You said, hoping that he was just joking, “It’s the freaking Narnia thing!”

“What’s Narnia?” He asked instead, looking just as clueless as ever.

You gave him a look.

Kim Jongdae was definitely, pulling a prank on you. Even if you weren’t a big fan of the books or the genre itself, everyone in the world knew what Narnia was all about. The movies made it even easier but apparently, not to him.

You were about to say something when he yelped. He stepped back, bringing his hands to his stomach and looked at you. You whispered his name, not linking the frown on his face or the fact that he let your hand go.

He whispered your name as his eyes went wide and filled with a certain fear you’ve never seen before.

All you could do was to whisper his name back.

His hand clasped around your wrist and everything was suddenly pitch black.

There was a pull and you fell.

And kept falling.

And falling.

Falling.

And falling.


End file.
